So much for "not negotiating with terrorists". CNN is reporting that Israel is going to trade prisoners for their soldier.
Curious to see what other prisoners are released other than the Hamas politicians who were captured specifically to exchange for the Israeli soldier.
It's seems there are conflicting reports now. Israel seems to be denying it. Abbas (the one trustworthy Palestinian leader) is the one saying it. There's some more details as well: http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/07/israel.gazanew/index.html But Israeli Interior Minister Roni Bar-On told Israeli television that he consulted with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who repeated there will be no prisoner release and no negotiations with Hamas. Abbas said in a news conference, parts of which were carried on Israeli television: "There are promises from Israel to release Palestinian prisoners who served 20 years or more, children, women and the sick." "(Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak received those promises, and I heard them from Israeli officials. Once the soldier is released, they will do that and will pull out and will release the Cabinet members in custody," he added.
Israel has dealt with 'terrorists' numerous times in the past, they're -- for the most part -- staunch realists. Oh, and not to nitpick with you or anything, but I wouldn't call Abbas 'trustworthy'...although some Western leaders have certainly been marketing him as such.
Well, from everything I see, Abbas is the only one that consistently keeps pushing the peace process. He pushed the Hamas government to recognize Israel, threatened to try to force new elections if they didn't, etc. And from what I understand, most Palestinian security forces are loyal to him and try to stay out of the violence between militants and Israel everytime things flare up - despite having their infrastructure targetted and such. Obviously, it's not all good and he certainly has extremists in his party - but given the other options in the region, he's the guy who's been most committed to trying to move forward.
He has his positives, but just understand that locally he's not trusted by many Palestinians on the street and is viewed by many as a 'corrupt' leader, an extension of Fatah's "Old Guard" that included Yasser Arafat among others. Most people in the West still don't understand that the primary reason Hamas won the last elections was largely due to the ineffective, corrupt leadership of Fatah. While they were pocketing millions of dollars in outside aid instead of helping the average Palestinian, it was Islamists such as Hamas who were helping them put food on the table, cloth their children, and provide books/materials for schools...It might not mean much to the average American or European, but it meant a hell of a lot to the average Palestinian.
